julienjj

I have a problem with my 2011 E550 cabrio,

I have never experienced something like that in a car, so it's weird to explain

When I drive on they highway, after a wind gust strong enought to roll the body a bit, the steering become unprecise, and I have a hard time keeping the car straight, resulting in some unwanted swerving. It's like if the the front right suspension had become totally soft, causing the car to dip. The same behavior happen when I go over an expansion joint on a bridge. The suspension float and make the car a lot less precise to steer.

At slow speed, twisting the wheel cause the body to "float" over the suspension, even in sport mode

When backing off from my driveway, I can hear stuff clunk in the front end.

Mercedes has replaced the front upper tabs and did an alignment 2 weeks ago, but it didn't do much.

I'm really puzzled on that

Any comments, ideas ?

moxplod

wow .. i have felt the exact same thing.

The steering becoming "swervy" for the lack of a better word on highways and espcially more noticeable on windy areas. My previous cars audi and bmw when i drove on the exact same routes (work - home) i never felt this way.

And also the clunk noise when backing up in my drive way which i am less worried about than the swerving.

I have a 2011 e350 coupe.

champaign777

you should check you front suspension
probably something is loose, 2010-2011 coupe are known for front strut problems there is a recall for it, google it

bghart2003

I just had my front struts replaced (under warranty) on my 2010 E Coupe 350...mine had the same disturbing characteristics you have described....totally gone now....front end well planted now and damping feels smooth and controlled....huge change

nawlinstornado

They had to replace bushings on my 2012. I only had the clunking at low speeds but it's gone now.

julienjj

I went for a 2nd visit, but they say couldn't find anything wrong.

I will definitively look for that suspention recall. The "advisor" sounded like it's normal that it drive like that.... yeah right. Said it might be due to the large tires in the tracking in the the grooves on the highway. LOL.

I think I will have to bring the tech on a drive to really show them the issue. It's starting to **** me off big time.

flizzardo

hey that sounds like the same problem i am having

can give me the link about the front strut recall? cant seem to find anything about it and btw how much will it cost to fix this issue?

champaign777

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-c...new-owner.html

LI32.25-P-051123 FEB11 – 212 without Airmatic (489), 207 without vehicle dynamics (483)
dull thumping noises or metallic rattling from the area of the front axle occurring @ speeds 10-45 mph, modified front struts should be installed.

julienjj

My car has the "483 Vehicle dynamic package" ( I think it's STD on all 550coupe & cabrio) so I guess it doesn't apply.

It is entirely a drivability problem, no noise are emitted when moving.

I'm showing a friend how to do his own brakes/rotors this week-end, but if I have time I will lift the cabrio and fiddle with the suspention to see if anything is wrong.

theraven333

Might be a steering sensor or Yaw control sensor???? Not sure how to check ? Body control module springs to mind???? Especially as you have the Vehicle dynamic package.

julienjj

Well, tried a brand new E-class cabrio at the dealer today, and it does not ride for a single second like mine. It tracks straights on uneven road, and does not try to change lane by itself and make me crash. (I took the same road 15 minute before with my car) Headed straight to the service department after the drive, and told them the problem again. I have a new appointment for the next week. The technician will take a drive with me, and if he does not notice the problem (it's obvious seriously, even my passengers noticed during long trips), I will have him compare with the other one they have.

champaign777

Give as an update .
From my experience with BMW/MB the "floating" issue usually related to bad struts or bad steering rack
Ask them to replace your all front suspension , who care if they cant find the root of it
LOL

theraven333

I had a shallow knocking noise coming from the front offside suspension, which also manifested itself into a good knock when going over driveways kerbs or on a fullish lock. The knocking came all the time irrespective of the road surface, just a continuous knock, not harsh just damned annoying.
My third party warranty did not cover it when Mercedes diagnosed the front struts being the problem, but they had not "failed".
However as mentioned in a previous post on this matter Mercedes came out on top with a a very fair solution given my car was out of warranty, to their great credit!!!
Having had the suspension struts at the front replaced I was pleasantly surprised at how tight the car had become, much better than previous driving experience of some 20K miles. Another thing that surprised me was they did a printout of the vehicles geometry, which had only 2 elements out of spec. which on a car as complex geometry wise as a Mercedes gave me great confidence into the robustness of the suspension, given the state of the roads here in the UK!!
"The struts where replaced on the basis of good engineering practice"....... not my statement!!!!!!!!!! There is a technical bulletin on this issue of suspension struts..........

julienjj

The car is in for service. They are keeping it overnight. I took the technician for a test drive and let him drive.. he agreed that something is not right, but can't pinpoint it. He said he is going to search mercedes knowledgebase system for simillar issues.

Worst case they have to replace all the front suspention bits.... something not remotely complex on a RWD car.

If they fix it I will definitely post the diagnostic & required parts to fix here... looks like such a common issue with those models.

julienjj

For those wondering, the "problem" was fixed by thrashing the stock OEM pirelli tires and replacing them with a set of staggered Michelin Pilot sport AS3. I figured I couldn't go wrong since they have a 30day satisfaction guarantee, if they don't please you, they take them back, no question asked.


I called back at the dealer after the tire swap and spoke with the technician. He told me he would had called out my tires as the source of the problem, but since they had the "Mercedes benz original" logo on them ( "MO" initials stamped by the tire name) he couldn't blame them.

The car drives like new and is enjoyable again.